Cerita-cerita bahagia, hampir seluruhnya

Cerita-cerita bahagia, hampir seluruhnya | Norman Erikson Pasaribu

so-so

A collection of stories by an Indonesian writer. I was pleased that I managed to get through them without too many vocabulary problems, but I'm not sure I really understood the point of most of them.

18 likes

Simona

Happy Stories, Mostly | Norman Erikson Pasaribu

pick

Another short stories collection in this year #InternationalBookerPrize2022 and this one was mixed bag for me. While I didn‘t like short short stories, the longer are pure enjoyment to read. Stories are smart, some are sad, some are ironic, but all have common thread in yearning for acceptance. I have the strong feeling that Pasaribu form to write/express in fullness is longer format than short stories.

Cathythoughts Sounds good 👍 2y

Simona @Cathythoughts Stories in the longer form are really good and thoughtful, and I absolutely see myself reading them again and again … just for pure fun and pleasure. 2y

53 likes2 comments

rockpools

Happy Stories, Mostly | Norman Erikson Pasaribu

pick

Norman Erikson Pasaribu is the only author on the #InternationalBookerPrize2022 longlist who I‘ve read before, and I was surprised at just how pleased I was to see him again!

Many of the stories are written from the perspective of friends or family of gay characters, people who love them - but don‘t accept them; people who are somehow responsible for ‘mostly‘ in their happy stories. The themes are heartbreaking, yet are told with a brightness,

rockpools a playfulness and a sense of the absurd. We spend time in heaven (which looks awfully like an open-plan office) & a character berating her author for lack of detail.

Moving away from the stories themselves, one of things I enjoy with Tilted Axis Press is their ability to bring you a glimpse of the original language- just a word at the start, in this case ‘hampir‘ (almost), which draws you in. And the afterword, a 2y

rockpools conversation between the author and Tiffany Tsao, translator, is a joy.

I‘m looking forward to re-reading this, and I‘m sure I‘ll experience it differently next time. 2y

Simona I wasn‘t looking forward to read it, but your review helps me to gain more enthusiastic approach … 2y

See All 8 Comments

TrishB Whoever makes heaven an open plan office has a good sense of humour. 2y

squirrelbrain Great review Rachel! 2y

rockpools @Simona I guarantee you‘ll read worse before the month is over 😁. 2y

rockpools @TrishB To be fair, they didn‘t make it sound particularly heavenly… 2y

rockpools @squirrelbrain 😊 2y

58 likes2 stack adds8 comments

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